How to restore the disabled startup programs after an upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP

After you upgrade your computer from Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium to Windows XP, the programs that previously loaded during the startup process may not be listed in the notification area (the system tray), and they no longer start automatically when you start your computer.

This behavior can occur if Windows XP removes all of the program files (all of the .lnk and .exe files) from the Startup menu and the Run key in the registry, except for the "known good programs," which are not removed. You can observe this behavior after Setup is complete and you have logged on to your computer for the first time. The files and values are moved to a hidden folder and registry key. Then, the Microsoft System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) is populated with the Startup tab information.

To work around this issue, reinstall the values to the registry and the programs from the Startup folders:

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
2. Click the Startup tab.
3. Click the Restore Startup Programs option.
4. Select the programs that you want to restore, and then click OK.
5. Restart the computer.

NOTE: This option is not available if Windows XP Setup did not disable any programs from loading during the startup process.

This behavior is by design.

If you enabled all of the programs that are listed in "Startup Programs Removed During Setup," the next time that the System Configuration Utility starts, the Restore Startup Programs option is unavailable, and the programs are migrated to the Startup tab.

NOTE: Many of these programs can cause problems when you start the computer in Windows XP. After you have restored the programs, you can use the System Configuration Utility to disable these programs on the Startup tab if you have difficulty starting Windows XP.

After you have restored the programs, if you cannot restart your computer in Windows, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer, and then press the F8 key to display the Windows Advanced Options menu.
2. Click Safe Mode.
3. Follow the prompts to start the computer in Windows XP by running in Safe mode as an administrator (for Windows XP Home Edition).
4. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig, and then click OK.
5. Click the Startup tab, and then click to clear the programs that you added.
6. Click OK, and then follow the prompts to restart in Normal mode.
7. In Normal mode, start the System Configuration Utility, and then add one program at a time to determine which program has prevented you from being able to restart your computer normally.

For additional information about the System Configuration Utility, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about the Restore Startup Programs option, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: